NZ professionals expecting a 'workation' - survey

Christmas holiday? What Christmas holiday? Prepare for disgruntled partners and disappointed children over the summer break.

It appears that almost half of New Zealand professionals will not be relaxing properly these holidays at the beach, but instead they will be fitting in up to three hours work each day, according to a survey just published by Regus, the global serviced office company. 'Workation' is the new word being used.

Amongst these persistent professionals who just cannot switch off, one fifth of these Kiwis are part of a hard-core minority of serious workaholics who will work more than three hours a day over the Christmas period.

New Zealanders will be taking too much work on holiday and will be keeping their smartphones and tablets close by. More than 40 per cent in the survey said that they would still be operating on a slightly reduced 'business as usual'.

"Technology today means that workers are increasingly finding it harder to escape from work and switch off. It's important that employees take a proper break and spend time with their loved ones," said John Henderson, Director, Regus Asia Pacific.

"With more and more companies seeing the results of stressed workers leading to high anxiety, it's so important that managers give their staff a proper vacation. That way everyone can come back after the break and start the New Year afresh."

Taking time off from work makes the difference between a healthy or a burnt-out frazzled worker, he said.

The global study was conducted earlier in the year as an online survey.

Regus commissioned UK headquarter research agency MindMetre and there were 54 respondents from New Zealand.